Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $164 to $12,006.

“Demand for the larger bulker sizes are at the best we have seen in a long time,” said Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at industry lobby group BIMCO.

But current rates were “nowhere near a time to celebrate as the market had just turned profitable on a day-to-day basis,” Sand said. For 2017, BIMCO still expects average rates to be loss-making for the industry, he added.